Positive discrimination and job seeking.?

Ok. So, i'm 22, white, female, live in London, educated to degree level, have good work experience blah blah blah and am looking for work. The industries im interested in (arts and heritage) are, to be honest, most highly populated by white middle-class female grads such as myself. Looking at application forms and... show more Ok. So, i'm 22, white, female, live in London, educated to degree level, have good work experience blah blah blah and am looking for work. The industries im interested in (arts and heritage) are, to be honest, most highly populated by white middle-class female grads such as myself. Looking at application forms and researching online, im finding a level of positive discrimination might be lingering. For instance, i've seen statements twice saying that people with a disability will automatically get an interview and all applications i've seen so far state that they particularly welcome candidates from ethnic backgrounds. I can never know if im at a disadvantage and fully except that other applications might be stronger then mine but my question is, in an industry that is full of the likes of me, is it fair that people with a disability/from other ethnic backgrounds get preferential treatment in this? Please tell me your honest opinions. I personally think that EVERYONE regardless of colour, creed, disability, sex, age should get an equal shot at job applications but i'm torn because maybe i have had it easier in terms of education etc. thus far. Please be honest with your thoughts experiences. Im just trying to understand more. Many thanks.

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Best Answer: Yeah this is one of my biggest pet peeves. I often wonder how long it will be before the UK follows the likes of South Africa and New Zealand and actually dictates how many people from ethnic minority backgrounds must be employed by each employer.

With regards to the disability thing, I believe it actually used to be the law that all employers had to invite disabled people to an interview. It's no longer the law but certain institutions such as the BBC choose to still practice that.

But there are a couple of things to take into account:

- An interview doesn't guarantee that you get the job. Sure, it means you've got a better chance than someone who didn't get an interview, but it still doesn't guarantee anything

- Some people who are disabled might choose to not disclose that they're disabled on an application form for fear that it will harm their application. I am actually disabled myself as I am partially deaf, but I don't disclose this as I work in a role which requires me to use the telephone a lot. My disability doesn't affect this because I only have problems if there is a lot of background noise or something, but even so, I never disclose it for fear of what people might think. Plus, during the application process, I'd like to think that I got the job on my own merits and not because someone felt they had to hire the token deaf candidate

The bit about welcoming applications from people from different ethnic backgrounds annoys me. Sorry, yes I am white, but I just think this particular phrasing sounds really patronising. I just want to say "yes of course you do; it's illegal not to". I can tolerate phrases like "we are an equal opportunities employer" - that's not so offensive.

But again, this doesn't really mean anything because it's not suggesting that they are more likely to hire someone from an ethnic minority background. I'm curious to know, if anyone reading this can answer, if a person belonging to an ethnic minority group saw two jobs advertised, and felt that both sounded interesting, both were based in good locations and offered attractive salaries, and this person felt that they met the criteria for both, but one ad said that they welcomed applications from diverse ethnic backgrounds and the other didn't, which would they be more likely to apply to? Or wouldn't it make a difference? I suspect it wouldn't make a difference.

To be honest, I think employers should be barred from asking any of this stuff during the application process. I think the only question they should be allowed to ask is "do you have the legal right to work in the UK and under what means?" The point to asking these questions is to monitor that their workforce (in terms of gender/ethnicity/etc) is a reflection of the amount of applications that they get, but I think it does more harm than good.

So, to cut a looooong answer short, I think that this is just crap that employers write on job advertisements which doesn't mean anything when it comes to the actual hiring process. I don't think you're a victim of positive discrimination, but at the same time I don't think that these stupid policies achieve anything for the people that they're meant to help.

As an employer, this issue is incredibly simple. I want to employ the best person for the job.

I think this whole business of 'automatic interviews' and 'we particularly welcome...' can be very offputting to people who don't meet those criteria.

I also think that the whole emphasis on discrimination (positive or negative), being PC etc (and all the publicity that those things get) can lead people to make assumptions about why they don't get job offers. For example, if we interview someone who's in the very young or very old age-bracket, and don't offer them the role, they can make an assumption that it was because of their age. So they assume that it's another case of 'PC gone mad' and don't really understand some fundamental issue that makes them unsuitable (and, in many cases, that's something that would be within their power to change).

I know it's difficult to find a good job.

It's also really difficult to find good people to employ.

I hate to think that anyone would be put off applying because they felt that selection would be based on anything other than finding the best candidate.

It really is as simple as that - to me, at least. I can't comprehend why any employer would want anything other than the best candidate - no matter what their background, colour, disability etc.

But his is the current cancer of the UK and Government policy. It's a fact that legally, it is impossible to discriminate and/or be racist against an able white English person. If we object against ethnics, we're racist and if we object to a disability, then we're discriminating. This application confirms this.

The re-vamped Postman Pat programme now includes a person in a wheel chair. Did the puppet jump the interview queue!

When I require work done, I only employ the skills of White English, and when I do work for people, it is only for White English. If my business required an office etc... then able and disabled people would be put in the same pot. I would never let anyone jump the queue.

Pretty much! Have the kids learn a little French, German, whatever and if they meet with this discrimination again sue! A friend had a job in CA he wanted me to run. Required "bilingual"! I don't speak Spanish BUT l used to live near the Canadian border and spoke French! The owners complained, the lawyers got involved, it was found that a large number of workers (all ours spoke 2 languages) only spoke Spanish! Discrimination suits, fines, etc.! It was still in the courts after the job was done so I don't know the actual out come!

At my work, disabled people are guaranteed an interview if they meet the minimum criteria in the role profile.

We usually get a lot of applications from 'normal' people who meet the minimum criteria but they usually get ditched from the shortlist because they ONLY meet the minimum criteria and we are looking for people who meet/excel the maximum criteria (or are close to meeting the maximum criteria).

We are looking for the best person for the job and it doesn't matter whether the best person is disabled, from an ethnic background or whatever.